Letters to the Editor for May 31, 2019

City should reconsider ban on marijuana dispensaries

Been back in Baker City a week now. It’s hard not to have admiration for how clean and organized the town looks these days.

But I see hypocrisy at work as well. I see bars and breweries. But not marijuana dispensaries. The whole point of marijuana legalization was to someday have parity with alcohol. Where is it? Are the voters saying they prefer alcohol over weed? Even with the terrible history that alcohol brings with it in the form of such things as domestic violence, car accidents and poor health? Why on earth would you embrace alcohol over weed if you understood the difference?

It’s an honest question, isn’t it? It’s one that begs an answer free of political bias.

Besides, marijuana is also used as a medicine now. Half the people I see inside dispensaries have grey hair. They’re not there to get high. They’re there because marijuana is highly effective in addressing all the little aches and pains you get with aging. It allows many to give up their big pharma medications. You know, the ones that eat holes in your stomach...

At some point, this “sales inside the city limits” question is going to come back around on the ballot. I urge you to change it. Dispensaries generate considerable tax revenue. If you don’t allow business to help carry this cross, you have to make the taxpayers do it... That means you. I’ve heard griping over how the city needs more money in its coffers. You will find no better solution to that in the modern day than this.

And to the farmers out there. Hemp would grow really well around here. It’s an incredibly tough fiber. And you can use the plant for everything from animal feed to hemp oil. It produces a variety of marketable products.

I know folks like to hold on to history. You’ve built the town’s current reputation on it. I myself am a huge history buff. But it is the 21st century. There’s a lot of money going up and down that interstate every single day. Baker City isn’t getting much of it because you don’t have the right kind of bait on your hook.

Let’s change that.

Dan Collins

Baker City

The difference between Veterans Day, Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering and honoring people who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

As of 2018, the United States Census Bureau reported Memorial Day honors more than one million men and women who have died in military service since the Civil War.

Many people confuse Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Memorial Day is a day for remembering and honoring military personnel who died in the service of their country, particularly those who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle.

Veterans Day and Memorial Day have different histories.

Veterans Day is commemorated in November and honors all those who have served their country, including those who have passed away. However, it’s primarily focused on thanking those who have served who are still alive.

I ask a simple question. How many of those honored in the 2019 Memorial Day Service at Mount Hope Cemetery died in service to their country? Should they have been honored? Indeed so, but in my humble opinion their honors should have been during Veterans Day celebrations and not on Memorial Day.